New York - U.S. advertising spending was down 1.4% in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year, propped up by increases in cable and syndicated television ad spending that offset declines in other sectors like image-based online ad spending, which was down 6%, according to a report from Nielsen Monitor-Plus. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - In the absence of any official opposition from regulators, Google plans to go ahead with its proposed search advertising deal with Yahoo less than a month from now, CNET News.com reported, citing statements by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a meeting with reporters at its headquarters.
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New York - The first mobile phone to utilize Google's new Android operating system software, HTC's Dream, will cost $199 when it goes on sale later this month, The Wall Street Journal reports. [more..]

Los Angeles - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed court documents seeking sanctions against Ray Beckerman, an attorney who defends those accused of illegal file-sharing and runs a blog documenting those and other related cases, called Recording Industry vs. The People. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo announced on Thursday that it has partnered with RealNetworks' Rhapsody digital music service to deliver full-song streams in search results when users type artist-related searches on its service. [more..]

Seattle - Amazon.com is preparing to launch its own content delivery network service, aiming to offer even smaller websites faster, more efficient delivery of their media and other content to end users, Webmonkey reports, citing a post on the Amazon Web Services blog. [more..]

Hollywood - Hollywood Interactive Group, a developer of entertainment content sites that include women's casual gaming site MyHollywood.com, said on Thursday that it has raised a $5 million first round of funding, led by BlueRun Ventures. [more..]

Toronto, Canada - Orbit E-Commerce, a developer of IPTV services for the Chinese market, said on Thursday that it will acquire NexTube Broadcasting. [more..]

London - Amazon.com has held a series of talks with U.K. record labels, and plans to launch its MP3 download store in the U.K. next month, New Media Age reports. [more..]

Los Angeles - Peer-to-peer based streaming TV service Joost has begun offering the new Web-based version of its service, which will replace the downloadable client application that previously delivered its range of video programming, PaidContent reports. [more..]

Tokyo - Sony Computer Entertainment on Thursday announced the release of "Life with PlayStation," a new "lifestyle service" that offers PlayStation 3 owners "a new visual and interactive way to use their PS3 to access news and information from around the world." [more..]

Englewood, Colo. - Liberty Media's Starz has announced plans to offer the first two episodes of its first original series, "Crash," as free previews via the video-on-demand services of Comcast, Cox, Charter, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV, Mediacom and Insight. [more..]

New York - Viacom's Comedy Central on Thursday unveiled a redesigned website for fans of its "The Colbert Report" show, ColbertNation.com, which features clips from every episode dating back the Peabody Award-winning program's launch in 2005. [more..]

Austin, Texas - Comedian Amy Poehler, who recently announced she would be leaving the cast of "Saturday Night Live," is set to launch a new original online series with ON Networks next month. [more..]